Where Do I Start Writing A Book Novels & Stories

“Bali again?” I think about it for a few seconds but shake my head. I’ve been struggling a bit with getting this book started, and I know what I need to do: go back to the place that inspired this book, back to the real town my fictional one is based on. I’ll walk through the woods and will write by the lake. If any place is going to inspire me, it’s where it all started. “No, not Bali.” I look up at Karina. “I’m going back to Silver Ridge.”

I reply to him, and he slowly nods his head. "When did you start writing?" He further asks me. "Well, that has been long. About six years now or more. I started writing when I was seventeen, and almost gave up because I was scared my writing will never take me anywhere. My friend was the only one that reads my books then, and later on, I discovered some platforms would accept my books, so I decided to give it a shot..." I pause and drink some water before I continue.

I stood up and walked toward it. Picking up the book, I flipped through several pages, most of it was empty. Perfect. A smile slowly appeared on my face. Finally. Something useful. If I wrote everything down, I could organize my thoughts properly, I could make a detailed escape plan, every route, every possibility, every risk, everything would be written down. Then I sat back on the bed, opening the book, I held the pen tightly. At the top of the first page, I wrote three words.

I wrote the first chapter in November. Not the beginning of the story. That was where I had started with the speeches, the Vegas chapel, the blue dress. But for the book I started somewhere different. I started with the first morning in the hospital, the shaking in the car, the way the ceiling of our bedroom had been the wrong ceiling for four seconds that had been the worst seconds of my life. I started with after. It was harder than the speeches.

It was one of the things that made your character into who they are ten years later. Start your story where the story started. I know this is a useless line if you look into it, but I actually have to say that a lot of times when my writers just can't seem to be able to drop any little details of the past of their character because every day of the character's life seemed so important and inseparable from where they are at the beginning of the book. Now that you know what an inciting incident is, the third rule helps a lot on how to choose the best inciting incident for your story:

"How do I find time to write with everything else?" "Same way you find time for everything - you make it a priority and build structure around it." Jennifer pulled out her phone. "What if you blocked off early mornings? Before the twins wake up, before work demands start. Even just an hour a day would be seven hours a week. You could write a book in a year at that pace." The idea of waking up even earlier made Claire want to cry - she was already exhausted. But she also knew Jennifer was right. If she waited for the perfect time, the book would never get written.

Closed felt like privacy. I had a single sheet of paper and a pen and I sat looking at them for ten minutes before I wrote anything. The ten minutes were not wasted. They were the time it took to find the right starting point. Not the tactical starting point. The human one. I started with her name. Sarah. That was sufficient as an opening. Her name at the top of the page. Everything else could follow from that. I wrote for ninety minutes.